Therapy
by withasonginmyheart
Summary: Upon Mr. Gold's suggestion, Belle begins to see Dr. Hopper.


Summary: Upon Mr. Gold's suggestion, Belle begins to see Dr. Archie Hopper.

Author's Note: I don't own anything.

Belle sat uncomfortably in Dr. Archie Hopper's office waiting for her first appointment. She wasn't here by choice, and in fact it was Mr. Gold who suggested it. "After all dearie, you've been through so much, it might help having someone else to talk to," he warmly suggested.

Belle sighed as she stared at the clock. Time was moving by so slowing, and she couldn't wait to get this over with. She had a full day ahead at the library with organizing things for the big opening.

She reached for a magazine and mindlessly thumbed through the pages. Nothing could capture her attention while she waited. As the door opened, Belle panicked and jumped upright, tossing the magazine to her left. Dr. Hopper smiled warmly when he saw the nervous young woman. "You must be Belle," he smiled, "I'm Dr. Hopper."

"Belle, I'm Belle," Belle nervously shook her hand.

"No need to be nervous, I'm here to help you and to guide you through life's issues."

Belle didn't say a word as he led her into his back office. She felt relieved when she saw his dog Pongo. "That's Pongo, my loyal companion."

Belle kneeled to pet him and stroked his soft fur. "You're a good boy," Belle whispered as she got up and sat down in her chair.

"So how should we begin?" asked Dr. Hopper.

Belle shrugged not really knowing what to say. "This is going to be a long hour if you can't think of anything to say," teased Dr. Hopper.

"Well," she finally spoke up, "I don't know where to begin."

"Let's start with your childhood, what was it like? Where did you grow up?"

Belle paused for a few moments reflecting on her childhood. "I was a Princess with my father Maurice back in Fairytale Land. I never knew my mother for she died when I was a small child. I don't remember much of her at all."

"That must have been difficult," encouraged Dr. Hopper as he wrote down some notes.

Belle looked at the clock, not even three minutes and it felt like she had been there a lifetime. "Go on, please continue."

"I grew up during the horrors of the ogre wars, but my father shielded me from it for most of my life, but as I grew older he couldn't keep secrets from me. He arranged to have me wedded to Sir Gaston. We were to be married after we won the war. However when the ogres proved to be stronger than our armies and my father could no longer keep it a secret, I turned to help."

"What did you do?"

"I called upon the Dark one to help save us."

"Rumplestiltskin."

Belle nodded as she nervously played with her hands. "This is a story I've wanted to hear. How on earth did a young princess like you end up falling in love with the dark one," Dr. Hopper noted outloud.

"It started with a deal," explained Belle as her hands folded in her lap, "For the protection of my own, I gave him my services. I would be a maid and clean his house. So I was separated from my father and kingdom and Gaston."

"How did you feel about leaving your fiancé?"

"To be honest I never really loved him at all. I only was engaged with him to please my father."

"I wonder how your father feels about you being with Mr. Gold," asked Dr. Hopper.

Belle let a guilty smile cross her lips and chuckled. "He isn't happy about it, but he doesn't know Rumple the way I do."

Belle shifted in her chair and let herself relax. "Perhaps we could have a family session in the future," suggested Dr. Hopper, "Maybe even one with Mr. Gold."

"Maybe," she shrugged.

"So you were a maid, and I'm assuming during your time there you fell in love with him, tell me about that."

"I saw something in him that no one else did. I saw the good in him even when he didn't and I still do, but he was blinded by magic and he thought no one could ever love him due to his past with his love life."

Belle looked sad suddenly as the past came back into her mind. When he pushed her away and threw her out of his castle. "You seemed to have journeyed somewhere, where are you?" Dr. Hopper said.

"He sent me to get wool and I ran into Regina, who I didn't know was the evil queen. She told me that true love's kiss would break any curse and I thought that if I could break the curse he would love me and we could be together. Unfortunately that's not what happened."

"What did happen?"

"He pushed me away thinking I was working with the evil queen," explained Belle.

"How did it feel being pushed away by the one you love?"

Belle held back tears as she said, "It was the worst thing to ever happen to me. My life from that point on got worse."

Dr. Hopper's eyes widened as he leaned forward. "What happened?"

"Regina found me later and locked me up, she was going to use me against Rumplestiltskin, or kill me. I never knew what to expect every day. I lived in fear of losing my life".

"And when the curse came here, where were you?"

"Locked up in the insane asylum," explained Belle.

"Wow, you have been through so much," Dr. Hopper whispered, "And to be still standing, you are a brave young woman. How did you reunite with Mr. Gold?"

"Some man set me free, while I was still cursed and brought me to Mr. Gold," Belle answered, "Mr. Gold was under the impression that I had died due to something that Regina had told him."

Dr. Hopper scribbled down some notes and looked back up at Belle. "Do you still have nightmares about being in the asylum?"

"I'm not ready to talk about that yet."

"Well when you are, just know that I will not judge you."

Belle smiled.


End file.
